


Stripped Down

by tinx_r



Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: Contessa - Freeform, M/M, Pre-Slash, UST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-30 00:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12642534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinx_r/pseuds/tinx_r
Summary: Nick and Cody have to work off a debt to Mama Jo on board the Contessa, and Cody finds himself looking at Nick in a whole new way...





	Stripped Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Milomaus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milomaus/gifts).



> For milomaus who asked for _Cody's seen Nick in swimming trunks loads of time, but this time...._

They'd gone aboard the Contessa in their regular swimming trunks - shorts for both of them, Cody's in blue, Nick's in white. It was Bambi who'd taken them below to the girls' quarters and shown them the tiny speedos they were expected to wear for the occasion -- gold, with black detail.

"These have gotta be at least two sizes too small," Cody said, lifting a pair between finger and thumb. "C'mon, Bambi, you gotta be kidding."

"Mama Jo said you gotta wear the uniform." Bambi ran her hands over her own skimpy white bikini, which was more string than fabric. "I don't know why you're worried, honey. You got nothing to be ashamed of." Her eyes raked him, lingering over his workaday blue shorts.

Cody blushed scarlet, dropped the speedo and half-turned away from her. He shot Nick a desperate look. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"We don't have a choice, big guy." Nick gripped his elbow, pulling Cody gently behind him. "We'll wear 'em, Bambi. Can we just get a little privacy while we change?"

***

"When Mama Jo said we owed her a day's work, I didn't think it meant -- " Cody gestured at the foredeck, where a group of thirty-something well dressed women shared champagne and strawberries.

"I know." Nick bent over the heavy anchor chain, and started to wind. It was the fourth time today he'd dropped it down, then wound it up again -- bending, flexing and turning in full view of the customers.

Mama Jo came past and bestowed a sharp slap on his scantily-clad ass. "Nice work," she said in her gravelly drawl. "If I get another charter like this I'll put your name top of the list for crew." She turned her attention to Cody. "Didn't I tell you to go up in the rigging?"

Cody paled. He'd been up in the rigging, but the pitch of the ship with the deck, and the ocean, so far below, had strung him out. Too many choppers over water -- too many desperate rope-ladder climbs in his past -- he'd felt himself coming undone, and hastily made his way down. After that, it was only natural he'd found himself at Nick's side.

"I'll go up, Mama Jo. Cody can take over here, right, big guy?" Nick stood up from his task. "Heights aren't Cody's thing, you know?"

For once, Mama Jo looked understanding. "I figured. Listen, there's tanning oil by the tiller. Help yourselves."

Cody looked at Nick, then back at Mama Jo. "Um, we're good," he said, confused. "So do I take over the anchor?"

Mama Jo raised her eyes to the rigging and muttered something. "Callie! Tina! Come over here for a minute, will ya, and bring the tanning oil."

"Yes, Mama Jo!" Two girls leaped up from the stern and scampered obediently forward. The one wearing yellow detoured via the tiller, paused to whisper to the girl stationed there, then ran to salute her captain. Cody thought she was Callie, and Tina was the dark-skinned girl in pink.

"Right, girls. Nick and Cody here got no idea what to do with tanning oil, so I'm counting on you girls to show them. All right?"

"Yes, Mama Jo," they chorused again, and Nick and Cody were propelled forward until they were only yards from the group on the foredeck.

"See," Tina purred in Cody's ear, "like this." Her warm hands smoothed oil over his shoulders. "The oil makes you shine in the sun. Let the clients see."

"That's good, Tina." Callie reached under a seat, pulled out two beach towels and spread them on the deck a little distance apart. She laid down on one, arched her back, and said, "Let Nick take over now."

Nick moved toward her, an appreciative look on his face, and Tina giggled. "Not her, Nick. You do Cody, and I'll do Callie."

Cody looked at the girls, then Nick. "I don't get it."

"Mama Jo knows what customers like, and guys like watching two girls. I guess ladies like watching two guys." Callie laughed. "Anyway, you gotta make it sensuous, like you wanna touch him. You can do that, right?"

"I guess," Nick said hesitantly. Tina had gotten started, and moved to straddle Callie's hips. As Tina rubbed oil slowly into her shoulders, Callie rolled her head back, exposing her throat.

Cody swallowed and looked away. "What the hell?" he said under his breath.

"Do the crime," Nick muttered back. "C'mon, big guy. Next time we'll raise our own bail money, but this time I guess you better lay down and close your eyes, you know?"

Cody looked at the clients, then at the two girls a few feet away. He was already blushing, and he couldn't bring himself to look at Nick. He stretched out face down on the towel and rested his face on his arm. If he didn't look at anyone, he could at least pretend no-one was looking at him.

No-one except Nick, of course, who was already applying oil to his back. Nothing they hadn't done a hundred times before, only usually it was quick and businesslike. Usually, these hands on his back, so familiar, were simple strength -- solidarity and safety when he needed it, a friend like no other. 

Now, they were tracing his muscles, applying gentle pressure, turning his world upside down. It felt incredible, the sun's warmth, the oil, the magic heat in Nick's hands as they slid over his back, his neck. 

Nick moved then, straddling him, trapping him, naked thighs against the globes of his ass, and Cody's blood rushed south, leaving him in no doubt that this was a bad idea, the worst idea. He opened his mouth to tell Nick to stop, that they oughtta jump overboard and swim back to shore.

"Hey Cody," Nick said, low in his ear, leaning close. "Those ladies are really getting into this. Who knew, huh? And Mama Jo just gave me a thumbs up. She's gonna owe us after this, you know?"

Cody gave a strangled grunt, and shut his mouth again. This was all in a day's work for Nick. That thought was enough to soften his errant dick, which made no sense either as far as Cody was concerned. One thing remained true: he couldn't wait to get out of there.

The impromptu massage left Cody thoroughly rattled. Mama Jo gave him a drinks tray and sent him to the foredeck to play waiter -- not a role he enjoyed, let alone the hungry stares of the clients -- but it came with the bonus of working alone. Even looking at Nick made him hot and cold all over right now -- Nick, with his tight round ass bulging out of the inadequate speedos, thick dark body hair glistening with sweat.

Cody quickly looked instead at Tammy, who, in her sea-green bikini, seemed decorous by comparison. She caught his eye, and made her way forward to join him. "Don't worry," she whispered, taking the tray. "They're not allowed to touch. It's in the rules, and you know what Mama Jo's like about rules."

Cody had nearly forgotten the customers. He let Tammy take over serving and made for the mast and the ropes leading aloft. Vertigo was beginning to sound appealing.

***

"So what happened back there, guy?" Nick asked, as they headed back down the pier toward the Riptide.

Mama Jo had not only discharged their debt, she'd paid them fifty dollars into the bargain, which had surprised them both.

"I guess even Mama Jo could see the injustice in making us dress like that," Cody joked.

"Injustice -- oh, nah, I wasn't talking about the fifty bucks." Nick stopped and grabbed Cody's arm. "I'm talking about the guy who freaked out in the high ropes suddenly deciding the rigging's the finest place on the boat. Seemed kind of weird to me, that's all."

Cody flushed and looked away. Nick had his own shorts back on, along with a blue muscle tee that showed off half his chest. But Cody couldn't stop thinking about his ass in the speedos. His pecs, his six pack under the dark sprinkling of hair. 

The way Nick's hands had felt, sliding over Cody's skin.

"I'm not feeling so hot," Cody fudged quickly, still looking away. "I wanted some air."

"You were on the deck of a boat, moron. How much more air can you get?"

Cody shrugged and started walking. "We got left over pizza at home, right?"

"We got left over pizza, we got stale bread, and we got one blond meathead won't tell his partner what bug's up his ass."

Cody grinned despite himself and headed down the companionway without answering. He'd shower off the oil, they'd eat, and things would get back to normal. Easy.

Except that he'd just stepped out of the shower when Nick walked naked into the bathroom. Nothing unusual in that -- they'd bunked together for more than a decade, and for more than half of that time, communal bathrooms had been a way of life. He'd seen Nick stripped so often, he normally didn't even notice.

"Thought you were heating up the pizza," he said, struggling to keep his voice steady. He wrapped his towel around his waist, striving for casual, not trusting his body after its unexpected reactions earlier in the day.

"Figured I stunk," Nick said cheerfully, reaching past Cody and turning on the shower. "Hey, that was kind of fun today. Better than scraping the hull, anyhow."

Cody closed his eyes, taking a half-step away from Nick. "Fun? Yeah, I -- no. Not so much. Next time I'm gonna ask for hull duty."

"No next time. We better start a bail money account, you know?" Nick rubbed Cody's shoulder. "Is that what's bugging you? Parading for those women?"

"Yeah," Cody said thankfully. "And I felt like an idiot in that speedo."

"Oh yeah?" Nick chuckled. "I dunno, it was kinda tight, but those ladies sure liked it. I was thinking we should maybe ask Mama Jo if we could borrow them for the beach this summer, you know?"

"You're not serious?" Cody stood in horror as Nick disappeared behind the shower curtain. "Nick!"

"Save tan lines," Nick said, popping his head out. "Relax, big guy. I dunno why you're freaking out. You looked hot, you know?"

"I'm gonna heat up the pizza," Cody said, and escaped from the bathroom. Nick had obviously gone mad. His own hypothetical hotness aside (which Nick had no business noticing anyhow) the thought of his partner's speedo-clad ass roaming the beach, in front of Cody day in, day out, was impossible to comprehend.

Nick came out of the shower in a loosely-tied robe which showed all of his damp, hairy chest, and most of his damp, hairy thighs. There was no chance he was wearing underwear.

Cody turned hurriedly back to the microwave. The fact he was dressed exactly the same way was hardly the point. He managed pizza on plate, plates on table, and self into booth without opening his mouth, or allowing his sudden unbidden hard-on to leap into view, and considered that a success, of sorts.

They often sat side by side in the booth, but Cody deliberately didn't move over. Nick took the hint and slid in opposite, a quizzical expression on his face. "You all right, man? You're acting kinda jumpy."

Cody rubbed a hand over his face. From time to time, their past made both of them 'kinda jumpy', and that was okay. A quiet few days, maybe a fishing trip, a few beers with the best partner a guy ever had fixed everything.

But this time, he was kinda jumpy for a whole other reason, and he really didn't know what to do about that.

"Yeah," he said anyhow, because his fear in the rigging was as good an alibi as any. "I'm okay, I just need some sleep. Maybe a quiet day tomorrow."

Nick nodded like he got it, and Cody turned his eyes to the pizza. He knew his partner was still watching him, looking for his tells -- checking out how bad it was gonna be. He knew, because he did the same when Nick was on the edge.

"Really," he said, and looked up again. "I'm okay, buddy. Just tired and off balance, that's all."

Nick nodded, mouth full of pizza. He must've been satisfied, because he started talking about baseball, soothing and familiar. Cody ate the pizza, nodded in the right places, and realized he'd hardly been lying: he truly was exhausted.

After one piece of pizza, Cody muttered good night and headed for the stateroom. Early though it was, his brain was done, and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. He knew Nick followed him in to check on him; felt the safe familiarity of those well-known hands on his shoulders, allowed himself to be bullied under the covers when he would have collapsed on top.

"You're not gonna buy me a speedo for my birthday, right?" he muttered.

Nick chuckled. "No way, man. Then I'd have no chance with the ladies, you know?"

"You don't anyhow," Cody said, grinning and rolling aside as Nick faked a punch.

The hand that had punched Cody's pillow touched his cheek lightly then squeezed his shoulder. "Get some sleep, man. If you want, we'll take the boat out tomorrow, you know?"

"Yeah," Cody agreed, and raised his hand. Nick gripped it tight and Cody closed his eyes. The hottest ass in King Harbor was simply a distraction from what was important after all -- friendship, truth, brotherhood forged in fire. Everything Nick was to him. He rolled over, snuggling into his blanket, and pulled Nick's hand against his chest as he did so. 

Nick responded with an awkward half-hug, then gently disengaged himself. Cody expected him to go back to the pizza, but instead, heard the familiar sounds of Nick getting ready for bed.

"You turning in already?" Cody asked, rousing himself. "What about the rest of the pizza?"

"I put it back in the fridge. It'll be just as good tomorrow." Nick's bunk squeaked and the light clicked off. "I know it's early, but it's been kind of a long day. Night, man."

"G'night," Cody replied. Nick's presence brought him both safety and comfort; maybe Nick was tired but more likely he'd stayed for Cody. That was just how Nick was. 

Cody closed his eyes again, and resolutely put aside all thoughts of speedos, tanning oil, massages and naked skin. "Yeah. I think I'd like to take the Riptide out tomorrow, big guy. Thanks."


End file.
